The End
Chapter Seven: The End
It was time.
The edges of the circle leaped into action all at once. Death Eaters, and Order Members and soldiers of Dumbledore's Army jumped out form their hiding places and dueled ferociously with the nearest adversary. In perfect tandem, Ron and Hermione were taking on Lucius Malfoy. One down, one to go, Ron thought fiercely.
Luna and Ginny had were tag-teaming Rabastan Lestrange, as Harry watched, Luna and Ginny fired synchronized Stunning Spells.
"Stupefy!"
"Impedimenta!"
Rabastan artfully dodged the first spell, but the second hit him square in the chest. Bellatrix Lestrange howled in anguish and approached Luna and Ginny, wand drawn, crazed eyes glittering. She bore down on them with long, quick strides. The murderous look on her face leaving no doubt that she would fight to kill. Luna and Ginny weren't harmed however, at that moment, Neville stepped out from the shadows and into Bella's path…
Now the dueling had begun, it would not stop until one side was the victor. Of course, even when the war's over, the battle has never really ended. Thunderclaps continued to boom their discontent across the sky, but in this place, at this time, they went totally unheeded. The thick darkness that had fallen was cut and streaked with flashed and beams of criss-crossing light, momentarily transforming the Forbidden Forest into a depressing travesty of a rave. The war was fought from this point on with only intermittent flashes of light that made the scenes of barbarity all the more frightening.
Remus Lupin dove in front of a Killing Curse and "took the bullet" for his wife. Tonks wouldn't realize until much later, when she was screaming her husband's name what happened. The healing process wouldn't begin until much later, if it wasn't for the birth of Remus' child nine months later, it might never have ended.
Peter Pettigrew snuck up from behind and hit Minerva McGonagall with a surprisingly forceful Stunning Spell. It was the final straw for a woman her age. The proud Gryffindor Headmistress would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Mad-eye Moody whirled around in time to swiftly end Pettigrew's.
For the first time in a long while, an emotion that wasn't muddled by madness molded Bellatriz Lestranges features. Her face was contorted in genuinue fear. Everyone within a ten foot radius had stopped in what they were doing when they felt the pure waves of hatred and anger emanating from Neville has he stepped closer and closer to Bellatrix. The Lestrange for her part did not back down, but even armed, she looked diminished somehow.
She did not go down easy, anyone who witnessed the murder could attest to that, but her defense paled against Neville's fierce will. In one decisive moment, Neville recalled all of his pain, and anguish, every night he'd cried himself to sleep, the blank stares that were all he received from his parents. He brooded on the horrible feeling of knowing something so elemental was missing from his life. He focused every negative emotion he'd ever had because of the woman in front of him. With two words, she was dead, never to destroy another life.
As all this was going on, Harry and Voldemort were dueling ferociously, thunder boomed and lightning flashed, almost in sync with the wizards waging war. Harry attacked and defended, rolled, and dived struck and parried slowly but surely gaining the upper-hand. Voldemort was supremely unconcerned. The boy underestimated him, he could not attack the mind: it was closed to him. He could not attack the body: Harry was too fast. So Voldemort would go for the heart.
Harry saw what was going to happen a second before it happened. Voldemort broke his defenses and shot a spell at Harry that brought him to his knees, crying out in pain. The Dark Lord could have ended it at that moment, but he wasn't done yet. His wand flew from Harry to point at Ginny who had just defeated a Death Eater. For a half a second, Voldemort's eyes met Harry's and the travesty of a smile made one last appearance. When Harry and Ginny looked at each other for the last time, Harry's eyes were full of desperation. No, not her. Anything but that! Take me, take me His eyes seemed to say. But some part of him, deep down knew this was how it had to end, the way it had all begun. Ginny Weasley died with the gleam of triumph still in her eyes.
It is curious how a life-time can lead up to a moment. It is curious indeed, but for most people, there is a crystal-clear defining moment in their lives, where the goals and dreams are realized. For Harry Potter, that moment was now.
The Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, had survived until now only because of his safety-net of friends and guardians. No longer. His ability to love made him special; the power the Dark Lord Knows Not: his ultimate weapon. Even after the Hell he'd been put through with the Dursleys, he'd opened his heart and made friends he moved on and through the pain of losing people he loved, Sirius and Dumbledore, he'd kept his heart open. No longer. In the moment Ginny died, his heart closed. Before she hit the ground, Harry had uttered the two most evil words known to wizard, and for the first time in his life, he had the emotion to make the magic work.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The words had most unfortunately been said a lot that night, but never before had the emotion and magic behind them been so strong. The Dark Lord was thrown backwards into the air with the force of the curse. A concurrent crack of lightning split the sky and for an instant, Voldemort's deadened eyes were illuminated, but then he disappeared into the dark.
All motion had ceased at this point. Death Eaters and Order Members alike had paused in their tracks to witness the end. The survivors looked on in Harry's moment of triumph. He threw his arms in the air and yelled wildly. It was not an exclamation of victory, but one of grief for all the fallen. Harry's scream echoed in strange silence. He fell to his knees, finally overcome by emotion and exhaustion. At this very moment, the skies opened and it began to rain. Now it might have been coincidence, but I think you'll agree that in this time and place, coincidence is always much more. The Survivors looked to the sky as the rain poured, cleansing Death Eater, Order Member, and D.A. soldier alike. For the first time in a long while, they allowed themselves to hope that things might turn out alright after all.
The End.
